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Is it possible to get much off the ticketed price of a used car these days? Long time since I’ve bought used but my parents need a replacement car and they are looking at a used car from a dealership that has £28,000 as the price on the website. Can we expect to get much off that? Nothing to trade in so straight forward purchase.
Very hard these days. Everyone has the internet and you, the dealer and everyone else knows whether there is a comparable car for cheaper out there.
I managed to get a couple of hundred off my second hand Golf when I got it but other times I've tried they've told me to take it or leave it.
They might be more willing to negotiate on price if you are using their finance, so consider taking finance and paying it off immediately.
How long has the dealer had it?
You'll be lucky if it even comes with enough fuel to get you to the nearest petrol station! 🙂
Depends how aggressively priced it is compared to equivalent approved cars in the same area (50 miles radius perhaps). And as someone said, how long they've had it.
A mate bought an Audi S3 in the summer, found it close to home and the dealer couldn't understand him wanting to view it, he's an ex mechanic. He didn't need finance which confused them even more and then he offered a grand under the asking price via bank transfer which blew their minds.
He had to repeat his offer several times before the penny dropped, Seems odd but appears to be the way it is now.
Thought as much - paying the finance off early is a good ploy as long as there are no early repayment penalties. Otherwise we’ll just suck it up I suppose - they are offering £500 off all cars in Jan so that’s a start! No idea how long they’ve had it.
I bought a used van last week from a Peugeot main dealer, price was listed as £14,495 but I got £500 off (and a new battery), I used an example of the same spec vehicle, similar miles, within 50miles (also main dealer, although Citroen) that was listed at £13,500. The battery was because I hadn't arranged a viewing and the battery was flat and we couldn't get in when looking at it without a booster pack - it was at the back of the lot and the rear interior light had been left on.
The dealer wouldn't drop to match the other price though which Is what I was hoping for - the dealership had too much in the vehicle to drop a grand apparently. We had a 50/50 split between deposit and finance if it helps. Theres a slow down in trade this time of year which also helps a little.
They might be more willing to negotiate on price if you are using their finance, so consider taking finance and paying it off immediately.
This is quite often pointless as many finance agreements you have a fixed interest fee. On a 28k car with 10% interest you'll be paying £30,800 (2800 in interest if you pay it off early or not).....your almost always better off not doing finance.
Managed to knock £500 off a 7yo Volvo V40 priced at £9.5k* in September & get a yrs Volvo warranty, I wasn't in desperate need and salesman didn't think his boss would go for it, but cash buyer & it was at the end of the month...
* A ridiculous price for a 7yo car with 78k on the clock but needs be ☹️
many finance agreements you have a fixed interest fee. On a 28k car with 10% interest you’ll be paying £30,800 (2800 in interest if you pay it off early or not)…..your almost always better off not doing finance.
The trick is to pay off the finance within the 14 day cooling off period. Quite often there’ll be sweeteners to take finance eg 3 years servicing thrown in.
As a buyer you may not be better off doing finance but the salesman will. Friends ex husband was a car salesman and he got more commission on the finance than the car. Also due to money laundering, risk of ££s on site and having to go to bank, cash isn’t v desirable
The dealer wouldn’t drop to match the other price though which Is what I was hoping for – the dealership had too much in the vehicle to drop a grand apparently.
This is the big problem with van (and possibly also car) sales at the moment.
Demand has dropped off significantly, but dealers paid so much for their stock that they'd rather throttle back on sales than "lose" money.
What kind of age/spec/mileage did you get for that money, may I ask?
Have always phoned the dealer before going in and said 'I'm interested in x car, can you call me back with the best price you can do on it?'.
Has led to a call back with a reduction in price every time before even going to look at it...
Been a few years though so not tried it recently!
Hold your horses for about 6 more months. Things will change and they will change VERY quickly. Take a look at main dealer and used dealer forecourts. There is about 50% more stock now than 6 months ago at least. Thats still not back up to pre covid levels but cars/vans are starting to filter back into the system.
How does this effect you?
Well dealers do like profit. Of course. However they cannot stand stocking costs. A forecourt full of BMW cars can be MILLIONS £££. We have about £7m of stock and that costs us anywhere from £70-£150k per month before we sell a vehicle. Most car garages have a stock rotation system in place where they will offload cars if they get over, say 45 days. But if those avenues are dropping their prices then things start getting toxic and dealers will either discount or other drastic measures. Stocking charges do not go away ever. They get worse.
Why will this happen?
So we have a recession. We have all the covid money drying up. We are starting to get tradesmen advertising here for 2023 jobs due to 'cancelled contracts'. We have a cost of living crisis. We have thousands of people who have PCP deals hanging around their necks coming to an end who will be thinking they are going to make a killing on trade in value only to find their £250 per month deal is now £400 per month due to increase in new car cost. There isnt some magic money tree for all these people and the days of being able to deal someone into a cheaper deal like mobile phones is drying up. Those people are going to either refinance their current car or hand it back. I imagine there will be a huge amount of private sales on Autotrader in 6 months time of end of term PCP cars. Those cars will need cash purchasers as they will not have finance facilities. Thats the kind i will be looking for.
I am in the market for a car at the moment. I am doing my homework on prices and going to revisit in August prior to the new registrations and see how the market is.
Hold your horses for about 6 more months.
Hope so! Our current PCP runs out in Sept. 🙂
Yes but what are your plans? If you need to replace it your monthly payment will go up massively for the same car. At the moment the price rise of cars is being countered by the ability to give more for the return vehicle. If that slows then your deal will be worse and cost you more.
Very interesting and informed insight Hobo.
So with vans, we may see tradespeople keeping their existing vehicle rather than replacing with new? But also some business customers downsizing their fleets as their incomes shrink? (that was how I got my current van 10 years ago)
Any more specific van-based predictions, basically?
😀
Yes but what are your plans?
We'll see closer to the time! 🙂
Car we have does us fine so we'll either replace, refinance the balance or pay the balance from savings.
Refinancing balance is favourite so far as car will be 5yrs old and gets used as a bit of a workhorse to tow horse trailer and is full of smelly horse stuff!
Lets put it this way. Over the last 2 years we have been buying used vans direct from our manufacturer. They have been going up and up at a unsustainable rate. Vans we bought 2 months earlier (We dont need the turnover like cars and we a re a self funding model, no finance) were coming on £2-3k more expensive. How does that effect the market, well by sitting tight for a couple of months we were able to make £2-3K more profit on the same vehicles against the rest of the market. Its been insane and no risk.
Thats slowed down now. Dealers are no longer fighting to cut each others throats and they are more concerned about being left with stock £2-3k out of bed. Because that £2-3k will suddenly cost them about £150-£200 per month per vehicle in stocking plus a huge loss at the end if that vehicle doesnt sell.
We are now making decisions based on quick retail turnaround or trading on. We are walking away from deals that dont suit us because lack of new stock means we can afford to be choosey at the moment (I think that will change too in the next 6-9months when new sales dry up due to price increases).
Dealers & Manufacturers have had it good for last few years. The money to be made has been brilliant. Its going to be a difficult few years to come now.
I've heard the market for diesel 4x4's is dropping due to lack of demand as people seek more eco vehicles? We need a diesel 4x4.
We won't be buying new - any 'new' car would be 2yrs old ish.
Refinancing balance is favourite so far as car will be 5yrs old and gets used as a bit of a workhorse to tow horse trailer and is full of smelly horse stuff!
5 yr old car used as workhorse. Out of warranty. Probably not in the condition needed to return under PCP requirements. Replacement vehicle monthly probably hugely different to current payments.
Do you really want to be refinancing a 5 yrs old car for 2/3/4 years if it starts to cost money? At higher interest rates too.
These are the kind of questions that are going to catch a lot of people out in 6 months time. Not saying you will be but lots wont even consider this issue until they are too late.
I’ve heard the market for diesel 4×4’s is dropping due to lack of demand as people seek more eco vehicles? We need a diesel 4×4.
I imagine that the market for diesels in general will start to drop off soon, especially anything that's non-Euro 6 compliant.
When they extend the ULEZ in London later this year there's going to be a lot of people who'll be hit with £12.50 a day charges for their commutes. I'm in two minds whether to offload my Euro 5 diesel Octavia now before the used value on it plummets.
One thing I've noticed when looking for a replacement this past weekend is the huge amount of Cat N/Cat S cars that have been repaired and up for sale on eBay. Seems to be far larger numbers than I've noticed in the past when looking for a new car.
I imagine there will be a huge amount of private sales on Autotrader in 6 months time of end of term PCP cars. Those cars will need cash purchasers as they will not have finance facilities. Thats the kind i will be looking for.
I can believe that supply of SH cars will improve, but supply of new cars could still remain problematic, which could keep prices higher than normal, although maybe not at the current daft level.
You're probably right though, something has to give in the current financial climate.
I’ve heard the market for diesel 4×4’s is dropping due to lack of demand as people seek more eco vehicles? We need a diesel 4×4.
at the very bottom of the market this is likely to happen, but if you're spending a reasonable amount of money I don't think people will really consider the additional fuel costs of a 4x4 over a people carrier (which is really the alternate for similar space) or estate to be worth trading down for - folks love the status, driving position of a 4x4, and the £20/month for 10mpg less is lost in the wash if you're financing £300/month for a car payment
What kind of age/spec/mileage did you get for that money, may I ask?
@chakaping just started a thread Here today. But essentially a 2019 2.0 140bhp expert with 60k miles. 'professional'spec so ac part leather seats and a nice day stereo with apple play / goole car. £14k is about right liking at current values.
Do you really want to be refinancing a 5 yrs old car for 2/3/4 years if it starts to cost money?
I've no problem with old cars. 'My' car is 15yr old with 120k miles on the clock. 🙂
As for trade in - we bought this one by trading in a 14yr old Freelander with 210k miles on it. There's always a deal to be done!
Current Kuga (the one on PCP) is on 54k miles now. Worst case is we buy it using savings then keep it till it drops.
When they extend the ULEZ in London later this year there’s going to be a lot of people who’ll be hit with £12.50 a day charges for their commutes. I’m in two minds whether to offload my Euro 5 diesel Octavia now before the used value on it plummets.
THat might have an impact in London but not the rest of the country. Going the other way is that EV’s will start having to pay more VED tax than I pay for my diesel by a huge amount. I really dont buy the whole notion that EV’s are the solution. I will be sticking with my 2015 diesel
This is what we are up against though - this car below is only £500 less than the nearly the same model we bought in Sept 2020 (ours is manual and has full leather though) - Ours is also a '67 plate so paying the PCP balance of £7.5k ish seems to makes sense...
THat might have an impact in London but not the rest of the country.
its affecting far more places than you may realise - birmingham, glasgow, bristol, oxford. Anyone regularly going near those areas will be offloading euro5 diesels, which will lower the price across most of the country (supply and demand). Down here on the south coast old galaxys (which were euro 5 till 2016 I think?) got a lot cheaper when the ulez came in, despite being over an hour away
@chakaping just started a thread Here today. But essentially a 2019 2.0 140bhp expert with 60k miles. ‘professional’spec so ac part leather seats and a nice day stereo with apple play / goole car. £14k is about right liking at current values.
Ok thanks, looks a good buy for the money.
Supports my observations (from watching Van Trader) that prices are starting to soften a bit now.
The thing that has to give is income. People have been able to ride the wave with increased income from Covid. Even if your income hasnt risen, your outgoings were vastly reduced in the majority of households. That money was spent on doing up the house, upgrading the car etc. Tradesmen were busy and money rolled.
Over the last 12 months the reduction in availability new car/vans has artificially increased the value of second hand cars to 'bridge' the gap. Well new car prices continue to rise because its still an issue and it will continue to be a supply issue for a while longer. But people cannot keep affording to pay these second hand prices and once the industry slows, it will snowball. It will happen quickly and painfully.
Bangernomics will make a lot of sense if you dont have a LEZ to pay. We have a perfectly good car, bought and paid for years ago. Unless the market crashes i will not be replacing it
Bangernomics will make a lot of sense if you dont have a LEZ to pay. We have a perfectly good car, bought and paid for years ago.
That’s what I’ll probably look at now. Sell the current diesel while it’s still got some value and either buy a cheap petrol car for the time being or commute on the scooter full time and buy something when/if prices drop.
Even if you have cash to buy a vehicle, it's not likely to get you the best deal.
Dealers usually get a kickback from the finance, which can often be more than the cash 'profit' they make from a sale.
Any decent sales rep should be able to work out what is the best deal for you and them, using the various finance options available to them.
I know my old boss ended up buying an Audi on PCP with IIRC a 50% deposit and paying off the balance after 12months, as that gave the dealer the biggest kickback, so they could give a bigger discount, which offset the finance costs of paying for the PCP deal for the 12 months. Plus he got the interest on the other 50% still sat in his bank account.
Quite simply, cash is no longer king in car deals.
I agree that cash isn’t king these days when buying a used car. Last time I was buying a used car I thought I would get a better deal as a cash buyer only for one salesman to tell me they want/need trade ins to sell as they make money of them, so with no trade in to make money on they offered virtually no discount.
Do you really want to be refinancing a 5 yrs old car for 2/3/4 years if it starts to cost money? At higher interest rates too.
You don't work in the car retail industry at all do you. Sounds like the same scare tactics the sales chap tried on me to sell his extended warranty..... He was quick to backtrack when asked if that meant he knew something was wrong with my impending purchase.
That purchase is now 8 years old.
trail_rat Disapointing 🙁 Try and help out with genuine advice and predictions and you low ball.
FYI i have 30yrs motor trade experience. Have never sold a car in my life and hate the things. I own a car i purchased brand new 11 years ago which has 60,000mls on it and i am tempted to change but if the deal isnt right i would keep for another 10 years. Is that ok?
The advice i gave that you are referring to is more akin to the posts percieved value. A 5 year old car which has had a relatively hard life. He described it as a workhorse so i expect it isnt in return condition. If in 6 months time the market has gone the way i think it will he may be in a position where he ends up financing more than its actual worth against the market. He might not but the other factor is cost of borrowing which is going up as well.
I dont give a shit what he does but its usually nice to get other peoples opinions on something without others having to question your motives.
Well I appreciate your posts. Thanks for the contributions to this thread.
And i appreciate that Marko. I tend to avoid these kind of threads because the same accusations get thrown at anyone from the motor trade trying to give a perspective. I have zilch to gain here.
Funnily enough i got a call from a dealer for the car i was looking at the other day. I have decided to wait and told him so. But he was a good salesman and asked the right questions, found out what i would be looking for and sent me an email as a follow up with a promise of a call if what i want in the budget i am looking for turns up. Personally i dont think i can ask for much more, if something turns up now then brilliant. If not, happy to wait.
* A ridiculous price for a 7yo car with 78k on the clock but needs be
If you think that's ridiculous check out the price for a similar age/milage 3 Series Touring! The price of anything I might want second hand is insane which is pushing me towards another work lease, even though they are expensive now.
I tend to avoid these kind of threads because the same accusations get thrown at anyone from the motor trade trying to give a perspective. I have zilch to gain here.
I think you've just run into one of the forum's Mr Grumpypants. Thinks he knows everything and everyone else is an idiot.
Your insight is appreciated and it doesn't seem you're reaching beyond your expertise.
If you think that’s ridiculous check out the price for a similar age/milage 3 Series Touring! The price of anything I might want second hand is insane which is pushing me towards another work lease, even though they are expensive now.
Yep, my 4 year old top-spec 3 series isn't worth that much less than I paid for it as a 6 month old ex-BMW Finance car, but a replacement 6 month old (almost) equivalent spec 3 series is currently pushing £40k, and a new one £50k.
Covid though more than halved my mileage, so rather than it having the 110-120k at this age, it's sub 60k - so I'm keeping it for longer.
I’ve heard the market for diesel 4×4’s is dropping due to lack of demand as people seek more eco vehicles? We need a diesel 4×4.
i have a 3yr old diesel Q5 on a 4 year pcp - Audi would like to buy it back, and i'd be a good few £ in the bank. Will take them up on an offer when my EV eventually arrives !
Yep, my 4 year old top-spec 3 series isn’t worth that much less than I paid for it as a 6 month old ex-BMW Finance car, but a replacement 6 month old (almost) equivalent spec 3 series is currently pushing £40k, and a new one £50k.
List prices have increased by a silly amount. Out of interest, I just looked up the OTR price for my van - Ford Transit Custom DCIV L2 Limited 290 130ps - now compared to when we bought:
Sept 2017: £33,768
Jan 2023: £45,322
A 34% increase in just over 5 years. We added £1,600 of options and managed a 33.3% discount off list on our factory order. I can't imagine that being offered today. Even now comparable age vans have asking prices greater than we paid new.
This is quite often pointless as many finance agreements you have a fixed interest fee. On a 28k car with 10% interest you’ll be paying £30,800 (2800 in interest if you pay it off early or not)…..your almost always better off not doing finance.
This isn't correct. There's rules governing how much lenders can charge when you settle early - gone are the days of front loaded interest for regulated consumer finance. If you pay off finance early the lender calculates a 'settlement quote' using a prescribed formula which rebates most of the 'future' interest.
You can quite easily take out finance to take advantage of any offers and then pay it off early. You might end up paying a minimal amount of interest, which will roughly be the amount accrued up until the date of settlement.
well im sorry if i strongly disagree that a 5 year old car is going to start costing money - which is very much my point.
unless your a totally mechanically unsympathetic oaf or have somehow managed to continually buy friday afternoons car then theres no reason for that.
infact - the car you know is a more sound prospect than taking out finance on an unknown quantity.
Good contribution Hobo, even as someone into bangernomics, I like to keep an eye on the market. You even provide the potential for a little wave of willy wave.
infact – the car you know is a more sound prospect than taking out finance on an unknown quantity.
This
Currently sat on a 12 year old car, that’s about to tick over 100k miles
Apart from consumables (tyres, brakes) the only thing that’s needed fixing was an electric window motor.
No point swapping it, as I know what I have rather than changing it for something newer that I don’t know the history of.